WE LIVE BY THE GOSPEL.
It’s the good news that God has conquered sin through the perfect life, substitutionary death, and resurrected reign of Jesus Christ. It’s something that God has been doing throughout history:
The gospel was proclaimed to the Serpent in the garden: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).
It was foreshadowed by the sacrifices of Moses: “He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Lev. 1:4).
The gospel was experienced by Isaiah in the temple (after he had already delivered five chapters of Spirit-inspired sermons): “He touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” (Isa. 6:7).
It was preached by Paul above all else: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4).
The gospel will be fulfilled by Jesus at the end of the age when he comes to reign: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
This means the gospel isn’t just a visa stamp on your passport to show the immigration officer when you get to heaven. It should shape every facet of our lives right now: “The gospel . . . has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:5b–6).
For more information about a relationship with Jesus, click below.
